Senior Airman Benjamin Edwards acts as an active shooter during the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection exercise March 20, 2012 at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., officials announced that a similar exercise will be conducted Dec. 12, 2012 at both Lewis Main and McChord Field. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class George Goslin)

12/5/2012 - JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The old saying goes "practice makes perfect," and practicing is just one of those things the U.S. military is known to do.

Everything from preparing for war time situations, to aircraft accidents, to protests at the gate and so on are practiced by all service members throughout the year; all with the intent that if any of these scenarios come to reality, the military has the best trained and prepared members ready to react.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials announced that a Force Protection exercise will be conducted Dec. 12 at both Lewis Main and McChord Field.

The purpose of the exercise is to evaluate the installation's ability to respond to potential threats against personnel, resources and property.

During the exercise people working, conducting business or visiting JBLM should anticipate detours in vehicle traffic patterns, restricted access to buildings and possible disruption to various customer service activities.

The exercise is being conducted as an annual Installation Management Control requirement to ensure JBLM is capable of responding to a variety of security threats and able to protect personnel, resources and property.

During the exercise, people can receive updates to buildings, roadways and services impacted by the exercise by logging on to the JBLM Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JBLewisMcChord.

JBLM officials want to ensure the public is aware of this exercise and the fact that services may be affected. The exercise will be played as closely to real world as possible but officials want everyone to understand the events that take place that day are not "real world."

JBLM service members, families, civilians, contractors and visitors are encouraged to visit the Facebook page before making trips to JBLM, Dec. 12, as almost all services will be affected in one way or another.

It is vital to mission success that this upcoming exercise and other base exercises are practiced from time-to-time and ensures how service members are prepared if and when the real world scenario comes to reality.

For more information, contact the 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs office at (253) 982-5637.